THE ROLE OF MASS MEDIA IN REBRANDING OF NIGERIA

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Media activities and journalism practice in Nigeria could be said to be in its best days today. For instance, the vibrancy of the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC) led to the launch of the global system of mobile communication (GSM) on August 7th, 2001 with over 500,000 lines issued at its inception and had surged to more than 40 million subscribers. Also, journalism practice under a new democratic governance in Nigeria (since May 29th, 1999 to date) was at its peak because the local and foreign press were filled with media reports about Nigeria’s electoral process, plus other happenings around the country. In the same vein, the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation Agency ( NOA) was leading the way in marketing the country to Nigerians and foreigners through its July 2004 launch of the initiated “Heart of Africa Project”.

The government through the Ministry of Information had organized media parleys and press conferences, both within and outside Nigeria, all in an effort to project and protect the image of the country. In the face of consistent attack of Nigeria’s image by Western news networks like Cable News Network (CNN), wire services like UPI, AP, REUTERS, etc and regrettably some sections of the Nigerian press. In light of these developments, it has become imperative for the country to formulate holistic national image policy to stem the tide of incessant barrages of Nigeria’s reputation. With these happenings in mind, this paper attempts to conduct studies on the role of the mass media especially the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) in protecting and projecting the image of Nigeria under a new democratic dispensation (1999 to 2007) One of the primary challenges faced by developing countries especially Nigeria stems from the breakdown of bordering between their internal and external aspects. Professionals and scholars have arranged that increasing the actions and statement of Nigerian leaders and citizens simultaneously affect National and International identity and image. This is due to increasing levels of interaction between her citizens, leaders and other external public or societies.

The mass media is the vehicle of communicating with large number of persons across human societies. It is a generally acknowledged fact that the media in Nigeria is very proactive and vibrant especially in issues of protecting and projecting the democratic sustainability in Nigeria. In light of this showering responsibility, it tends to get better when pushed to the wall by any anti-press policies of any government in power (whether civilian or military). The guts, fearlessness and daring attitude of the Nigerian press must be commended as an internal stimulus for political development and responsible governance in the country. Take for instance, the Sharia law promulgation debate that was propagated by the Zamfara State government and trumpeted by some conservative state government in Northern Nigeria in 2000. It was observed that the Nigerian press rose up against the unrealistic and ill-motivated law. All of these were initiated to expunge corruption and restore the dignity and identity of Nigeria within and beyond. The Newspapers, radio and television stations, even Nigerians in Diaspora all joined the chorus in denouncing the obnoxious law which many saw as barbaric and uncivilized. The Sharia law imbroglio took an international dimension when in its 2000 annual report, the United States Department of State expressed concern over the constitutional liberties lost due to the implementation of the Sharia law in some Northern states of Nigeria. The report said, “although Christians were exempted in the law, the societal ramifications of expanded Sharia law infringed upon the rights of non-Muslims in the North to live in a society governed by secular laws.” The report further stated “plan to implement expanded Sharia law in Kaduna State, which has a large Christian population sparked off violence in February, 2000 that lasted for several days and resulted in an estimated 1,000 to 1,500 deaths. Another contentious issue that was given prominence in the Nigerian press was the Debt Restructuring Deal” from the Paris Club and other multilateral creditor bodies. The Nigerian Spress stood up gallantly to the occasion and this resulted in the signing of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) standby agreement in August 2000, and the country benefited from a soft loan facility of $ 1 billion from the IMF and a restructuring deal worth over $18 billion from the Paris Club and others. The saga was so internationalized Journal of Arts, Humanities and Diplomacy Volume 2, Number 2, 2012 56 by the Nigerian press, both local and the Diaspora, that in 2004 Nigeria was elected the Chairman of the African Union (AU); the President-General of the South South Cooperation League of the Non-aligned nations in 2005, and a runner-up in the Headship of the African Development Bank (ADB) in 2006, due to her efforts in securing a debt cancellation deal estimated at $40 billion for the African continent. The Nigerian mass media have come under serious governmental reprisal over the years because of their role as the watchdog of society. The mass media have been so muzzled up, that the journalist is often faced with the fear of arrest, harassment, termination of appointment or even death.

The mass media for the purpose of this discourse are viewed from a dual perspective. First, as technological artifacts, the media refer to the various systems of modern communication that make information consumption possible. These include newspapers, magazines, books (print media) and television, radio, film or cinema (electronic media). As social institutions, the media refer to those highly organized social systems with well defined authority relationships, and are responsible for the gathering, processing, packaging and dissemination of information or messages for public consumption (Sambe, 2005: 29-30). Government especially military dictatorships in Nigeria and indeed, all its agencies are not always comfortable with the prying eyes of the media, not even when such media appears to be government friendly in their reporting of government activities. This is because most governments in the Third World nations are corrupt and have tended to jettison the people’s interest to the background and to pursue personal agenda. The constant reporting of these government events as a cardinal principle of the ethics of journalism practice brings media practitioners and the government into conflict. Another aspect of media practice in Nigeria which leads them into conflict with the government is continually harping on the need for objective reporting, it has consistently failed to provide the necessary enabling environment, by making information available for use by the media. Oso (1997) upheld the view that objective news reporting demands that competing or contrasting viewpoints must be attributed to some other people; the opinion of the journalist must not be reflected in the news. It is also important that those to be quoted are credible members of society. But more often than not, government officials who should avail the media with the credible view points shy away from doing so for reasons that they may be exposed to some sort of distrust as the government law enforcement agents could clamp on them. More so, times are not very clear and convincing to the journalist sourcing for information. The repercussion of course, has been the constant arrest of journalists and closure of some media houses that take pleasure in the practice of advocacy journalism that borders more or less on propaganda and ‘sloganeering’, especially during the Babangida and Abacha regimes. Under the democratic dispensation of the Chief OlusegunObasanjo’s administration and the AlhajiUmaruYar’adua’s administration in Nigeria, the relationship between the mass media and the three arms of government is believed to be cordial. However, the present administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has given the mass media the opportunity (freedom) to operate in a more relaxed atmosphere unlike the previous military dispensations.

An image can be described as the impression, feeling or opinion, which somebody has, about an individual, place or even an organization. In this case the impression or feeling or opinion, which other countries has about Nigeria. Over the years the image of Nigeria grows worst rather than bad. Nigeria has been branded thieves, 419ers and other all sorts. This has incidence a lot of problems on our international relations. Submit a green passport and be subjected to the most stringent and most thorough check at foreign airports, seaports and other international boarders. What a bastardized image. Nigerians have been denied Visa entry to international engagements. Recently, highly placed Nigerians where denied Visas into France for the Film Festival, to mention but a few.

However, the opinion that all Nigerians are thieves, 419ers, Fraudsters, could be proved wrong, by carefully adopting the procedures of rebranding Nigeria through Public relations. At this juncture, the media among others is a focal point for Public relations and branding building, according to Osunbiyi (2001). “The world is in crisis, Political Crisis, economic crisis, identity crisis; the media and Political societies. Nowadays nobody dare to deny the effects of the media in the behaviour of individuals both in developed and developing countries. In our continent, the Media are said to poses power.”

One of the most common misconceptions about branding is that it is something one chooses to do as it were a project, one could start and finish. But branding, the process, through which a cohesive enduring, impressive of a business, in this case Nigeria is formed in the minds of our audience (external public). Branding never ends, it is ongoing in every interaction. Hence, the need of this paper presentation is to reveal the powerful role of Public relations in rebranding Nigeria, to rejuvenate Nigeria Bastardized image, among others, encourage investment and partnership that will aggravate developmental growth in both human resource and infrastructure facilities, all to make Nigeria a country to reckon with in the committee of Nations.

The Nigerian government attributes the inability of the country to attract sufficient foreign investments and tourists, in spite of her vast potentials, to the negative image of the country before the international community. The average Nigerian is perceived as a criminal or fraudster anywhere he/she goes around the world while Nigeria and Nigerians are considered unsafe to do business with.

In order to correct the negative image of the nation and its debilitating consequences, the federal government has since 2004 embarked on a number of projects aimed at launching the image of the country. The first was the “Nigeria Image Project” launched in July, 2004 by Chief ChukwuemekaChikelu as Minister of Information and National Orientation. In July 2005, Mr. Frank Nweke Jnr. had taken over from Chief Chikelu and launced the “Heart of Africa” (HOA) project to replace Chief Chikelu’s pet project. In February 2009, Professor Dora Akunyili the new Minister for Information launched the “Rebranding Nigeria Project” as the new weapon to win the image war. But what is branding? What is Re-branding Nigeria Project all about? What are the conditions for the successful rebranding of Nigeria? This study will attempt to provide systematic and logical answers to these questions.

1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The main aim of the study is to critically assess the role of the mass media in rebranding Nigeria. Specific objectives of the study are:

1. To find out the image perception of Nigeria by other nations.
2. To identify which area of the Nigeria society needs rebranding
3. To assess the role of the media in rebranding Nigeria
4. To examine the role NTA has played in rebranding Nigeria.

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